at seven. I went upstairs to my
room. A feeling of despair possessed me. I sat down and gazed out of
the window. A maid knocked lightly as I sat staring and came in with a
letter.

"Miss Ruth told me to wait until you were alone and then to give you
this," she explained.

I thanked her and she departed. I locked the door, then tore open Ruth's
note to me and read it.

"Dear Lucy," it said. "I cannot help but overhear some of the
conversation. Obviously, Tom is shouting so I may get the
benefit of his remarks without effort. I must get out of this
horrible place. How can I endure to meet the disapproval and
bitterness and hatred--yes, _hatred_--when they come filing out
upon me from that room across the hall. How can I sit down to
supper with them all, ask for bread--for water? How can I keep
up this farce of polite speech? I can't.

"You are in favor of my going away somewhere. I can hear you
urging them. Well, then, if you are, let me go _now_--tonight. I
can't go back with you tomorrow. Even though I am hard and
heartless, don't ask me to run the risk of seeing Bob by mistake
just now. I can't see him now. I can't. I _won't_ stay here at
Edith's. I won't go with Tom. This isn't the Middle Ages. Then
if ultimately I am to go away, alone somewhere, let me go
immediately. After I've gone the responsibility of giving me
permission will be lifted from Tom's shoulders. Don't you see?
You can argue with him to better advantage if the step has been
taken.

"I shan't be blindly running away. I've been considering a
change in my plans for so long that I've been enquiring. I know
of a position I can get in New York, and right off. I wrote
about it last week. I heard of it through the Suffrage League.
It's a position in the office there in New York. I would have
explained all this to Tom if he had been decent, but he wasn't.
He is narrow and prejudiced. Oh, Lucy, help me to escape. I've
got fifteen dollars, of Tom's and Edith's, and I shall keep it,
too! They owe _me_ a debt instead of _I_, them. That's the way I
feel. But fifteen dollars is not enough to start to New York
with. There's a train at 6.20 and another at 8.15. I am going
down to the station now, this _minute_, and wait for you to come
down there with more money and help me off. If you get out of
that room before six, I could take